We are in Numbers chapter four with our word for today which is a phrase. בְּנֵ֣י קְהָ֔ת the sons of Kohath, Kohathites. It is used 20 times in the Old Testament, 4 times in our chapter. Let’s look at these. Numbers 4:1-2, 4-5, 15, The LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, “Take a census בְּנֵ֣י קְהָ֔ת of the sons of Kohath from among the sons of Levi, by their clans and their fathers’ houses … This is the service בְּנֵי־קְהָ֖ת of the sons of Kohath in the tent of meeting: the most holy things. When the camp is to set out, Aaron and his sons shall go in and take down the veil of the screen and cover the ark of the testimony with it … And when Aaron and his sons have finished covering the sanctuary and all the furnishings of the sanctuary, as the camp sets out, after that בְנֵי־קְהָת֙ the sons of Kohath shall come to carry these, but they must not touch the holy things, lest they die. These are the things of the tent of meeting that בְנֵֽי־קְהָ֖ת the sons of Kohath are to carry. Did you catch that? This task of the Kohathites was unique to them and could also cost them their lives if they were not careful and touched the holy things. The Kohathitesnumbered 8,600 men, of whom 2,750 were old enough to serve. They camped on the south side of the tabernacle and had Elizaphan as their leader. They were responsible for carrying the furniture in the sanctuary. When the camp was about to move, Aaron and his sons would enter the holy place, take down the veil, and use it to cover the ark of the covenant. They would put over this a protective covering of skins and then a cloth of blue. They then put the wooden staves into the rings on the ark so that four of the men could carry it before the marching nation. It would probably be easy to allow familiarity with the holy items of the tabernacle to cause one to forget about the very specific instructions from God. We see this happen throughout the Bible. Moses is actually an example of this when we take God for granted and forget to obey his will for our lives. I’ll close with this reminder. Numbers 20:7-8, 11-12 the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Take the staff, and assemble the congregation, you and Aaron your brother, and tell the rock before their eyes to yield its water. So you shall bring water out of the rock for them and give drink to the congregation and their cattle.” … And Moses lifted up his hand and struck the rock with his staff twice, and water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their livestock. And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not believe in me, to uphold me as holy in the eyes of the people of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land that I have given them.”
